Reiser Says Wife Vanished After He Accused Her of Embezzlement

Linux guru Hans Reiser, on the witness stand here for the fourth day Monday, denied again that he killed his missing wife.

"Did you have anything whatsoever to do with her disappearance?" defense attorney William DuBois asked his client.

"No. I did not," the developer of the ReiserFS filesystem testified.

"You saw her drive away from the house. Is that right?" his attorney asked under direct examination.

"Yes."

For the first time during the trial's duration, the defendant claimed his 31-year-old wife, whom he married in 1999, abandoned her children because she embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from his Oakland-based Namesys company.

"Did you conduct yourself in any manner that contributed to her disappearance?" DuBois asked.

"I put a lot of pressure on her," the defendant said, noting that he accused her that Sept. 3 day of bilking him.